


every road we walk on is a red carpet

by jenomeow



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bikers, Gangs, Illegal Activities, M/M, Rivals, and blood ig, gang leader jeno, illegal races, it's complicated actually, it's softer than what tags suggest, soft gang things??, there are bruises and almost stabs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23790139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenomeow/pseuds/jenomeow
Summary: After a long day being the perfect student, Jeno, the fastest illegal racer and leader of a gang, just wants to go back home to his handsome boyfriend, who happens to be his only rival when it comes to the illegal racing. Yeah, Jeno’s days are never boring.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Mark Lee
Comments: 9
Kudos: 108
Collections: nono birthday bash





	every road we walk on is a red carpet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moonfleur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonfleur/gifts).



> heyyy nee i hope you like this uwu i had fun writing it!!
> 
> thanks to my beta who is amazing ♡♡
> 
> this is totally not what im used to write so pls be kind with me i did my best :')
> 
> and happy birthday to the best boy, love of my life, jeno ♡ !!!!

Jeno is everything you would expect from the best student in the whole college.

Perfect grades, polite beyond words, handsome like no one else. He even has a beautiful, wide smile! And he loves cats! He’s the kind of student every teacher wants in their class, even if he’s not from the major they teach. He’s the kind of boy everyone wants to date. He’s the kind of person you would want in your life.

In a more secret way, Jeno is also everything you wouldn’t expect from the best student in the whole college.

He’s actually not that fond of strangers talking to him, he’s grumpy in the mornings, he doesn’t really enjoy attending college that much. Normal things, to be honest, but the world decided to pretend Jeno was perfect, therefore the laws of the common people don’t apply to him.

Is it weird or bad, wanting to stay in your warm bed at six am? Of course not! It’s weirder wanting to get up and go to school, to the most boring lecture ever. So is it weird that Jeno groans every Monday at six am because he has to attend said lecture? No! Does the rest of the world understand that? No. They pretend that it doesn’t happen.

Jeno is actually a bit puzzled; when did everyone around him decide he was the perfect human being? Why was it always like that?

So that’s Jeno’s life. He goes to college where everyone thinks he’s amazing, he does his things there and goes back home to do his homework, make dinner, study and sleep just _a bit_ late, wasting time video-calling his closest friends before that. Just like a perfect student would do, right?

Wrong. That doesn’t happen. That’s what everyone thinks he does, but does he? No, not even during finals.

How could a gang leader have time to video call his friends? His friends are right there on the streets with him and— Oh, right, another thing to add to the long, long list of things that make him imperfect: Jeno is, actually, a gang leader who participates in illegal motorcycles races.

…

It wasn’t in Jeno’s plans to become a gang leader, that he can swear. He just wanted to go to college, lead a normal life, and instead he got friends with questionable lifestyles, but hey, how was he supposed to know one of his new friends was a former drug dealer with way too many connections, one of them was the son of a chinese mob boss, another one was a guy who liked to stab other people and the other guy was just a troublemaker? There was no way he could have known that.

Jaemin didn't even like to say he stabbed people and robbed them. He said he "pokes them without explicit consent". What the hell?

It was in his plans however, to become the best and fastest illegal racer of Seoul.

Every night he got in his stereotypical biker clothes; leather jacket, big black boots, tight dark jeans, and he rode his motorcycle to the place where the race for that late night was planned, a dark and narrow road in an almost uninhabited zone of the city. All dirty streets and almost no light. The start line was the said narrow road, but after a while it became wider, perfect to race.

His friends were always already waiting for him when he arrived.

Usually, not that many people were present, just a few guys running bets and drinking what Jeno hoped was just alcohol. After a couple years, Jeno wondered why they kept betting against him, when they knew Lee Jeno never loses.

“There’s a new guy,” Yangyang told him, pointing shamelessly at the guy that was already at the starting point, helmet on.

Bright red. His motorcycle, his jacket, even his pair of converse. The new guy had every detail in red with the occasional black, and that was what caught Jeno’s attention: when everyone was hiding (and for good reason. _Illegal_ race), the new guy was screaming to be seen. Jeno didn’t know if he really wanted to have everybody’s attention, but he sure as hell had Jeno’s.

“Make him cry blood, honey!” Jaemin screamed when the race was about to start.

Then it was cold air, loud sounds and pure adrenaline. Jeno left the guy at the starting point, going quicker and quicker, everything he left behind just a blur, everything he heard just a buzz.

A little faster, a little more dangerous, faster, faster— and then Jeno was the blur and buzz left behind.

It was odd, a strange sensation, having someone get past you, leaving you behind. Seeing someone’s back in the distance, further and further away with every passing second. One second Jeno was the only one going through that street, lonely and dark, but suddenly red was the only thing he saw when he was left behind. Red motorcycle, red jacket and red pair of converse, going past Jeno and all his black.

A mere second was what made him lose against the new guy, leaving everyone at the finish line gaping, wide eyes and surprised words.

Jeno took his helmet off, the new guy already by his side, helmet nowhere to be seen, and the biggest smile ever on his lips. Jeno felt a bit breathless, but he blamed it on the fact that he lost a race for the first time.

His motorcycle was still alive and ready to take Jeno wherever he wanted to, but he was frozen in place, sitting there, watching the red guy approach.

“That was so much fun!” the guy said, pausing by Jeno’s side. “I’m Mark Lee. I hope we can race again, Lee Jeno.”

…

The next time, Jeno won. After that, Jeno won again. Then it was Mark’s turn, then Jeno’s, and then Mark’s for three consecutive times. The only rivals they had were each other.

Jeno went to race at different spots in the city, and he never saw Mark there. Mark only raced in the same spot of the city. On the weekends, Jeno and his friends went to solve whatever problem Jaemin had caused throughout the week. Usually, solving said problems consisted of punching people in the face, breaking some rules, running from the police and even more of Donghyuck calling some of his _connections_ to receive a little extra help.

He only saw Mark a few times in the week, and only in that shitty, poorly illuminated street where they first met, always with the mindset of winning, so when he saw him at the college’s library, all fluffy red sweater, coffee in hand and a messy mop of brown hair, Jeno couldn’t stop himself. He was already calling Mark’s name when he asked himself what the fuck he thought he was doing and why he thought it was a good idea.

Mark smiled bright and wide at the sight of him and Jeno thought _that_ was the reason he thought approaching was a good idea.

And that was how it began.

...

  
  
  


Not a lot of people know this part of the city. Too old to host the crazy lifestyle the gangs have, and too ugly for common people to want to drive so far away from the heart of the city just to have a walk around there. Its streets, however, are fine.

Jeno goes as fast as possible, not a single sound apart from the ones his motorcycle makes. He’s sure he’ll be the first one to arrive to the old building this time. His hands sweat as his grip on the handlebar tightens. Almost there— and then there’s the red flash that zooms past him.

He’s gotten a bit too used to that red jacket.

Three years after the first time Mark won against Jeno, the jacket is not the same. In the second year, Mark bought a new one and that’s the one he’s been wearing since. It’s the same color as the other, but the difference is that this one has a big smiling face printed on the back.

_“Just think that’s me smiling at you every time I win,”_ Mark explained to him, winking, when Jeno asked about it.

Mark is annoying like that.

Jeno stops with just enough space between their motorcycles to not crash. He takes his helmet off and turns the motorcycle off, Mark’s already silent. Jeno looks at him, his hands on top of his helmet.

“You’re getting slower,” Mark says, a smirk on his face. Jeno scowls.

“It’s the first time you’ve won in weeks.”

“And it’s the first time we’ve raced in weeks.”

The weather is really good out there that night, and the street light near the corner is working for the first time in so long. Its light is yellowish and not bright enough to allow Jeno to see past a few steps, but it’s okay. He doesn’t need to look further.

Mark is staring at him, smiling. Jeno returns the smile.

“Are you going home now?” Mark asks and Jeno shakes his head.

“Jaemin got in trouble again.”

“Ah, right, you have a gang to lead.”

“It’s not a gang.”

If Jeno has to be really honest, he doesn’t think his group of friends can be considered a gang. They just… like to get in trouble, but everyone likes to get in trouble, right?

“Tell that to the police.”

“Are you going home?” Jeno asks, instead. “You can come with us if you want.”

“Yeah, that’s a no from me,” Mark laughs. “I told Dejun I’d call him soon so we can have a little online study session. Call me when you go back to your apartment.”

“That could be really late, Mark, you know.”

“So what? I’m going to study really hard for a lot of hours tonight,” Mark huffs.

Jeno feels something warm inside his chest. It’s the same every time he looks at Mark, every time Mark is being the sweetest person ever. Ever since that night Mark won their first race, he always had Jeno’s attention.

He inclines a bit, Mark meeting him halfway, and they press their lips together. It doesn’t last very long, just enough to be called a kiss, but Jaemin really sounded agitated when he called Jeno, so he decides there will be time for everything else later.

Under Mark’s gaze, he puts his helmet on again, his motorcycle roaring to life and he goes back to the city.

…

Jeno loves to race because it makes him feel a lot of things. Adrenaline, mostly. He loves to feel the air directly against his upper body, and he loves the freedom racing on his motorcycle gives. However, he admits he can get all those sensations and emotions doing other things that don’t imply illegal street races.

When he races, he feels free, but he never feels as free as when Jaemin is sitting right behind him on his motorcycle, his arms tangled around Jeno’s waist, leaning on his back. They never talk, and this moment always happens when the sun is beginning to set. Sometimes Jaemin needs to get away from everything, so he calls Jeno, and they are each other’s company for hours, just having a long motorcycle ride.

With the sun setting, an endless road ahead of them and his best friend on his back, Jeno feels free.

He knows he enjoys riding on his motorcycle more than just racing, and he confirms it every time he’s coming back from Donghyuck and Yangyang’s apartment, after a whole day spent there with his friends. Jeno drives respecting the red lights and the transit rules. He doesn’t have to go at a scarily high speed to enjoy a ride.

Jeno feels like he enjoys riding his motorcycle the most late at night. He enjoys it the most in a specific scenario: when it’s almost midnight, Mark calls him and sheepishly asks to be picked up from the campus’ library. Jeno would scold him over the phone, telling him he shouldn’t stay until that late studying, probably without having any break to drink something, but he sets off on his motorcycle anyway.

Mark also leans against Jeno, like all of his friends do when they ride with him, but it feels different. It makes Jeno feel warmer, a different kind of happiness. It’s different, Jeno reminds himself, because they’re not just friends.

The streets at that time are less busy than usual, they don’t have any worry in the world and Jeno feels _free_.

…

That night Jeno doesn’t want to race. Yangyang is in a really bad mood and Donghyuck offered to have a movie night, but Yangyang insisted on coming. Jeno went just because an annoyed Yangyang always means trouble, and Jaemin loves to throw himself at said trouble, just like Chenle. And Hyuck is always dragged into it too, so yeah, the worst could easily happen. Not that Jeno would stop anything, but the more the merrier.

Everything is going fine so far. Yangyang finds peace at the places where illegal races are held, God knows why, so he’s chill so far, sitting on Jeno’s motorcycle. The street smells of smoke and burned plastic, alcohol and a lot of other things Jeno would rather not to define. They’re in their usual corner, chatting among themselves, which is enough to intimidate most people there, because apparently everyone thinks they are plotting something.

Really, people have a little too much faith in them and their troublesome behaviors; they’re just guys with short tempers, knives and big motorcycles, add their affinity for wearing leather and you have the oh-so-feared gang Jeno “leads”.

The night is going way too calm, and Jeno should have realized sooner that this kind of thing never happens to them.

A guy approaches them, followed by a bunch of people, and Jaemin is ready to hiss at them to leave, but the guy speaks sooner than him: “Lee Jeno, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Race against me.”

Jeno looks at them for a couple of seconds. The guy is smirking, and looks very confident of himself. He doesn’t need to say anything else for Jeno to understand he’s not the kind of person who accepts a no, so Jeno gets up and smiles at Yangyang, who only huffs and gets off the motorcycle.

“You said you wouldn’t race today.”

“Seems like I lied,” Jeno chuckles.

They’re at the starting line. Jeno puts his helmet on. He knows he’s going to win, but he’s not sure that’s a good thing this time; the asshole that dared him doesn’t seem like someone who is a good loser, but Jeno decides to have faith.

He accelerates and soon he’s going too fast to think of anything else.

  
  
  


He hopes Mark is asleep by now. He told Jeno he would be spending the night at his apartment, nothing new, they pretty much live together, but Jeno thought it’d be a calm night. He wasn’t expecting that the guy he raced against tonight would be such a crybaby. A crybaby with some really violent friends. Not even Chenle is this violent, and he’s the heir of a Chinese mafia.

Stumbling all the way, Jeno manages to reach the closest couch, relieved that the lights are off, meaning that Mark is probably asleep. His chest hurts and he was almost stabbed, so his ribs are a bit bloody. Ah, his face must be swollen and red, and he doesn’t know how he will explain that to Mark. Not to mention his bruised legs; it was hell riding his motorcycle to go back home.

He’s trying to muster enough strength to drag himself to the bathroom where he can tend the mess his body is when the lights are switched on. Jeno closes his eyes, even tighter when he hears Mark’s gasp.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Mark asks, sitting beside him on the couch. Jeno looks at him and offers his best smile (something that _hurts_ because an asshole punched him on the mouth).

“Look, I didn’t know this idiot couldn’t handle losing. If I had known I would have told Jaemin to bring his set of knives,” he explains. Mark doesn’t look calmer.

“You won and he decided to beat you up?”

“Well, he and his friends. But I also had my friends, so it’s fine. You should see them, Mark. They look like corpses,” Jeno laughs, making Mark sigh.

“You also look like a corpse, dumbass.”

“No, I don’t. I look like someone who was beaten up, but not someone who almost died.”

Mark rolls his eyes and tells him to go with him to the bathroom, where Jeno sits on a stool Mark dragged from the living room, and he watches his boyfriend prepare everything to clean Jeno’s wounds. He hates when Mark does it, because he’s not even a bit gentle, almost barking at him to shut up when he complains, telling him to stop fighting if he wants him to stop treating his bruises like that.

Mark tells him about his day while he roughly desinfects his wounds, and Jeno only hums in response, telling him about the things the boys and he were doing before that random guy asked Jeno to race against him.

It’s calm and quiet, none of them very talkative to begin with. It’s also a good change; Jeno’s life is based on going as fast as possible, as dangerous as possible. Mark likes to go fast too, sometimes even faster than Jeno, and Mark knows how to deal with the danger gangs and illegal races come with, but he always keeps his distance. Jeno is right in the center of the mess, while Mark is there, yeah, but he only enjoys the show, and that’s exactly what Jeno loves about him.

Their relationship is fast, it goes quick and doesn’t wait. It is also quiet at times, it makes Jeno feel better, feel free, at ease.

Mark is focused on a bruise close to Jeno’s eyebrow, but he suddenly scoffs, “You’re staring at me a bit too intensely.”

Jeno smiles, hugging Mark, who is confused at first for the sudden show of affection, but returns the hug anyway.

“I hate it when you come back all bruised,” Mark whispers.

“I’m sorry I make you worry.”

Mark’s response is a caress to Jeno’s hair.

This relationship they have is exactly what they both need.

**Author's Note:**

> title from tempo by exo
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/jenosglow)


End file.
